Wallflower
by caelestis-wolf
Summary: Tae just turned 27 years old and is miserable since she's not married and realized that if she didn't get her act together she'd never be able to be a mother.
1. Chapter 1

Tae just turned 27 years old and is miserable since she's not married and realised that if she didn't get her act together she'd never be able to be a mother.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except the waiters and Kumakura-san. And the rain.

1

Chapter One

1

It was a rainy day. A rainy, sad, but busy day at that. Too busy in fact. So busy she had left to take a walk in the rain. With an umbrella of course. Actually she'd been kicked out by Tsubame and practically everyone else who worked in the Akabeko. They sure had a fine way of treating her after she gave them all the jobs that paid for their meals and housing.

_"Tae again? What's wrong with you today? This is the fifth cup you've broken and that's just today." said a waitress by the name of Akane as she went to go get something to clean up the mess her boss had just made._

_"Sorry about that. I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been so clumsy lately." Tae said with a sheepish grin plastered on her face._

_"Tae, are you ok? You've been acting strangely for a while now. I thought that if I left you alone it would subside but you only seem to be getting worse and nothing's ever affected your work here at the Akabeko before. Do you need money? I could lend you some of mine, or are you in trouble? Because if you are I'm sure Kenshin-san can help-" Tsubame was saying worriedly when Tae cut her off._

_"Good heavens, no. Don't worry Tsubame I'm not in any kind of trouble. I'm just clumsy that's all. Don't worry, I think it's just menopause."_

_Tsubame looked at her worriedly not really sure what she meant by menopause since she'd never heard the word before in her life but decided that from the way Tae had said 'Don't worry, I think it's just menopause.' that it couldn't be anything too bad._

_'It sounds like a sickness. Maybe it's like a cold? I'll have to askGenzai-sensei later.' she thought looking at Tae worriedly but decided to leave her alone and had done a really good job of it until about half an hour later when she and a big number of the Akabeko staff all lead her to the door._

_"Tae, why don't you take a walk? You seem tired." said one of the cooks named Shinji._

_"But it's raining outside." Tae said a small confused frown forming on her face._

_"There's absolutely nothing more refreshing or relaxingly calming than going out for a walk in the rain Tae-san. Trust me I've done it hundreds of times." said a waitress by the name of Sumomo her hands on Tae's back as she pushed her towards the main entrance._

_"Yeah and besides you look like ya need some time to yourself. You work too hard." said Ryunosuke another cook while also pushing her out._

_"You guys don't have to worry about me. Why I'm just fine."_

_"But Tae what would become of any of us if something happened to you? We'd all be left jobless and with no way of paying for our most basic of needs. So in a way it's also our job to look after you. Trust me, we're doing this for your own good." said Sango another waitress who also happened to be pushing her out while everyone was shaking their head in agreement with what she'd said._

_"But who's going to run things here?"_

_"Don't worry Tae-san. We can handle ourselves. Besides Keichi's right here." said Sukiko yet another waitress._

_"Yeah Tae-san. I can handle things just fine. It'll be like you never left. You've taught me everything I need to know and it's not like it's the first time you've left me in charge of the Akabeko. Besides it's a beautiful evening and I'm sure we'd all hate it if you missed it." he said while everyone either shook their head with approval or said yes ect., ect._

_"Here's an umbrella so you don't get wet." said Tsubame handing her the umbrella_

_"But-"_

_"Bye!" they all said in unison while pushing her out. _

Talk about a joint effort. She'd never seen her staff more hell-bent or together on anything before.

"I guess it only makes sense though. I was never really good at hiding my feelings and I've been spacing out so much thinking about **that **lately. I can't seem to concentrate on anything else. I guess it's only natural that after breaking half the plates and cups in the Akabeko and practically burning it down while I was trying to help Shinji in the kitchen because we were so behind that someone would realize something was wrong with me. I hadn't realized I was being so obvious. I must look like a crazy person here talking to myself."

"Yes you do."

"Oh my, I hadn't realized anyone else was here." she answered turning to look at the person who'd just spoken to her. It was an older Japanese man in western garb and an umbrella.

"I figured as much. You seem to be having a rough time. Maybe I can help." he said smiling warmly.

"I guess you could say I am. I doubt you could help though." she said sighing.

"Try me." he said smiling kindly.

"Unless you have a magic potion to make me younger there's nothing you can do."

"Well, I don't have a magic potion but I'll tell you what I do have." he said reaching for his pocket.

"A special offer of two tickets to Aizu!" he said shoving the tickets in her face with lots of enthusiasm like any good salesman would. Tae sweat dropped.

"But that's not all! Hotel with hot springs included! And not just any hot spring. These hot springs are said to help heal the sick and weak and does wonders for your complexion! The rooms are decent sized and clean with **Western Styled Beds and Pillows**! Not to mention you'll have a beautiful view of Mount Fuji in all it's naturedly glory! Plus if you act now I'll throw in a free meal at the Western Cafe all you can eat! All for the retail price of $35.99!" he said in one breath.

"Um, that sounds wonderful but no thank you."

At this the man hunched up and looked sad and pitiful his head dropping.

"I should have known better than to even try selling these. But what was I to do? I'm a widower with six kids to feed and a nanny who has her own three kids which she supports by herself ever since her good for nothing samurai husband ran out on her. I lost my home in a fire and just recently found a place but can barely afford it. I have so many loan sharks on my back it's dangerous to even show my face in daylight. But I do everyday just for my kids. Keiji, my oldest boy, is already working at the tender age of eight. Yuri was born a small sickly child and the doctors keep saying she won't last much longer. She turned nine just last week and all she wanted for her birthday was to be able to walk by the river with her mother and pet dog Toshu and eat some okonomiyaki." he said bursting into tears.

"Yuko and Yukito are my five year old twins who run around bare foot because they're shoes don't fit them anymore. Hokuto does nothing but beg for money on the streets even though I tell her not to and Yuichi is barely one year old and under weight just like the rest of us. It'll be a miracle if he even survives."

Tae had started tearing up when he told her about Keiji and started bawling when Yuri came up.

"What a sad story! Oh, here I am all bent out of shape with my own problems without realizing how lucky I am, and you, working your hardest just to survive! Here's the $35.99 and please don't be insulted but take my twenty dollars too. I know it's not much but it's something." she said crying.

"Thank you so much Miss. My kids will pray tonight that whatever your problem is, it'll be resolved." he said taking the money and bowing deeply his face still tear stricken and giving her the papers he'd just sold her.

"Don't you worry about that and I want you to know that you can come to the Akabeko in case you ever need a job or just some food."

"Thank you so much. We'll never forget your kindness." he said then looked at his watch and froze.

"What's wrong?" Tae asked worriedly.

"Ah! It's already five and the train leaves at five fifteen." He said panicked grabbing her hand and running towards the train station. After almost tripping over a mud puddle, jumping over a man bent down (probably to pick up something he'd dropped), bumping/crashing into a fruit stand and a few people they made it to the train station. Never, not even once, did he stop running, and getting to the train station didn't slow him down one bit. On the contrary, it only seemed to make him speed up as he ran past the ticket booths and the policeman. The train was already moving and he pushed her on while it was speeding up.

"Have a safe trip!" he yelled without panting or taking a deep breath. It seemed the man hadn't been fazed in the slightest from all that running.

"Wait! I don't even know your name!" She yelled sticking her head out the window as the trained speeded away.

"It's Kumakura!" he yelled waving good bye as the policeman ran over to him.

"Good Bye!" she yelled back waving and threw her train ticket at Kumakura-san.

_**To Be Continued...**_

LMAO! This was so much fun to write! I know there are a few things I'm going to have to fix and that I shouldn't be writing this without finishing any of my other fics but I just got back into my Samurai X fewer and just had to write this! It just flowed out of me. lol 3P

Anyway the reason I chose to use american dollars was cuz I'm just too lazy and never really understood the japanese way of doing it.

Review and if you find any mistakes or OOCness **TELL ME**


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Tae might seem a bit OOC here but she just wrote herself. I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen and just bulldozed her way through my protests.

I actually wrote this the same day I wrote the first one but I usually like to leave my stories alone for a few days then come back and read them and fix any mistakes. As a result I forgot and the ending of school and having to give in all my late works distracted me. The third chapter is already writen and if I get a few reviews I'll put it up sooner and keep on writing. You have no idea how much some R&R can motivate a writer.

Disclaimer: Tae, Anji or Samurai X/Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me. They belong to the genius of Watsuki Nobuhiro and all those other companies.

2

Chapter Two

2

_'I wonder what happened to Kumakura-san. I hope he's ok. That policeman had an uncanny resemblance to Fujita-san and if he's anything like him Kumakura-san will either be treated well and Fujita-san will be all smiles or he'll be treated really badly and Fujita-san will be anything but smiles. I swear it's like the man has a split personality. But then again, I didn't really get a good look at the policeman so it's probably not Fujita-san. That would be too much of a coincidence.' _she thought while she sat on the train. She looked around her and saw the train wasn't packed, but it wasn't too empty either.

"Mama, Mama, look at what I made!" said a little girl of about seven to the woman sitting next to her, enthusiastically holding out a paper crane.

"Very good. I'm glad to see you finally got the hang of it." she said taking the paper crane in her hand and examining it, and then patted her daughter on the head. The woman was beaming approval. Tae watched on, feeling the sadness seep into her again. She'd just turned 27 and had no family except for her twin sister who lived in Kyoto and her father who she lived with.

_'I feel so alone. I just turned 27 and have no husband, no gentleman caller, no nothing. Getting married at this age is darn right impossible and it'll take all my luck just to get married, leaving absolutely no luck for getting a good husband. But I could live without that. I know I can but... I don't know if I want to live without ever getting the chance to be a mother. It's all I've ever really wanted this bad. Before I know it that little white lie I told Tsubame about menopause really will happen and then it'll be too late.'_ she thought glumly as she watched the little girl and her mother. After a while she decided it was too much and walked over to the food booth. She looked at the foods and bought some strange western thing and sat down to eat at a table which had a rather big fellow sitting in it which was by the window. She walked over and sat down and stared at the man in front of her. She didn't mean to be rude but he was rather big and she'd never really quite seen anyone as big as him up close except for a few sumo wrestlers at the Akabeko, but he was different. The man in front of her was all muscle, no blubber.

"Is there something you need?" he asked politely

She hadn't realized she'd been staring so long and smiled sheepishly saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I hope you don't mind me sitting here. There was just no where else by the window and I figured since no matter where I sat I was going to have to share a table, I'd sit here."

"Not at all. You may sit here as long as you like." he answered taking a bite of his salad.

"My name is Sekihara Tea." she said bowing her head slightly. He stared at her for a moment as if trying to decide something then introduced himself.

"My name is Yukyuzan Anji. Pleased to meet you Sekihara-san."

"Pleased to meet you Yukyuzan-san. So, where are you headed?"

"Aizu."

"What a coincidence, me too. I'm going to be staying there for about a week." she said smiling. He stared at her for a moment.

"Where's your luggage?"

"Oh, who needs luggage. Certainly not me. I can survive wearing the same clothes for a whole week and have everyone whose seen me the day before look at me strangely and think I'm either not a very hygienic person or just really poor."

"You are going to buy new kimonos in Aizu I presume?"

"Read my mind."

Silence

"So, are you some kind of fighter?"

"You could say that."

"You're not some psychopathic killer running around on the loose trying to bring down the Meiji Government are you?" she asked sarcastically. He stared at her surprised but didn't show it. She'd hit so close to the mark.

"Yes and no." he answered truthfully.

_'Please let it be that he's trying to bring down the government and not a psychopath! A war hungry man I can handle, but psychopaths are beyond my control!'_ she thought sarcastically.

"Well, down with those Meiji bastards!" she said enthusiastically imitating Sano but only loud enough for the two of them to hear. He stared at her for a moment (he sure likes staring allot) then said, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, you see, I own a restaurant and every year they over tax me. It really makes my blood boil. Plus they've done some bad things to some of my friends and I've just never trusted them to begin with."

"I see."

"But enough about me. Tell me about you."

"I just recently got out of jail and live up in the mountains." he answered truthfully yet again.

_'Ok buddy, you have got to learn to lighten up and stop telling me the truth. You're like the only man I know to be this truthful. Heck you're the only man I know who is this truthful. Stop it! Lie to me already just like all the other good for nothing men in the world.'_

"I see. You must have a really nice view up there." she said sweat dropping.

"Yes, it's very calming and quiet. Great for meditating."

Silence

"So, you married? Any kids?"

"No, but I did take care of orphaned children for a time."

_'He has no idea just how appealing that is to a woman. He never got married but took it upon himself to take care of orphans with an 's' at the end meaning more than one. Talk about a man out to steal my own heart. Too bad he's probably a psychopath.'_

"Wow, you're just full of surprises. I never would have imagined you as an adoptive daddy. So how old are they now? Any of them married and with kids yet?"

"They died in a fire while I was out." he said in monotone, not a bit of emotion coming out of him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring back bad memories." she said looking worriedly at him.

"It doesn't matter anymore. What's in the past is in the past."

"Would you like some tea?" asked a waitress who seemed to have magically materialized out of nowhere handing them both a menu.

"Um," Tae really wasn't sure what to do and looked at Anji.

"Yes please. Tae would be very good."

"Alright then, I'll be right back with your tea." she said then walked away. Tae was groping for anything to change the subject and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Well, Yukyuzan-san. I'm not married either and have no kids. I just turned 27 and am currently trying to come to terms with the fact that I'll probably never get married or be a mother for that matter. Which for a man might not mean much but for a woman in this age it's a tragedy. Which is really the whole reason I'm here in Aizu. To get my mind off things. But I just don't understand why it is no man has ever really seemed to like me. Is it something I do? Something I say?" she said getting carried away and on the edge of hysteria. Anji began to look uncomfortable and moved around in his seat as she kept going, hysteria now let loose.

"When did I anger the god of marriage? All I've ever done is be an obedient daughter and learn how to run a business. Is that such a crime! Is being a successful business woman so wrong! Daddy insisted I learn so I learned, and I love it! Is that so wrong! Is being a business woman so damn intimidating to half the men in japan that they'd run for their lives every time they see me turn the corner!" she said almost screaming then stopped to take a breath and sighed looking down.

"And even worse, the ones who aren't intimidated by me just want to use me to get a hold of the Akabeko, a limitless fountain of money, and feign interest. What's wrong with me? What is it that men find so un-attractive about me? Is it my accent? I could change that. It'll take some practice but I could do it. Is it maybe my hair? I could grow it longer even though it'll take time and I hate dealing with it. Am I ugly? Do I look too old and wrinkled? I try to tell myself otherwise but I look at myself in the mirror and all I see are wrinkles. Wrinkles, wrinkles everywhere." she said finishing her short little rant sounding very depressed. Anji stared at her with an almost unnoticeable trace of pity in his eyes, then said, "I'm a man."

Tae looked up at him with a confused look and noticed he was looking down and blushing. You could barely see it, but it was a blush none the less.

"And I find you quite attractive (At this Tae blushed) and I didn't notice not even one of your wrinkles. To me you are beautiful just the way you are (Tae turned tomato red here) but most importantly, you have a beautiful mind." he said the last part looking her straight in the eyes, his blush now gone. Tae stopped blushing and looked at him straight in the eyes with a shocked expression on her face as he continued.

"A mind to rival that of any mans. It is not you who are at fault Sekihara-san, but us men who don't know how to appreciate you or realize what a jewel you really are."

A single tear ran down her face. Her expression hadn't changed one bit and she just stared at him unblinkingly as he stared back seriously. About a minute of silence passed and Tae wiped her face with her hand saying, "I think that is the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me in my entire life."

She smiled gratefully then said, "How is it that you're not married? I thought some girl would have snatched up someone like you ages ago."

Anji blushed, even though he knew the reason she had said that was clearly just to lighten the mood.

"I was a monk."

"So that's it. I should have known. All the nice guys are either taken by another woman or god. The rest are just gay." she chuckled. He apparently wasn't used to this kind of conversation, which made sense considering he'd been a monk.

"Don't worry Yukyuzan-san, I'm just teasing you. I've never flirted with a monk before and just couldn't help myself." she hadn't realized what she'd said until after saying it.

_'Oh my, did I just say that?'_ "Excuse me Yukyuzan-san. I don't know what's gotten into me. I'm not usually like this."

"Don't worry about it. I understand that you are going through a difficult time in your life at the moment. It's only natural to act strangely." he said his cheeks very lightly tinted with pink.

"You see, now when you say thing like that while looking so darn cute it's hard for a girl not to want to tease you."

_**To Be Continued...**_

The reason he stared was because he's not used to people, least of all women, talking to him much because of the way he looks. He's just incredibly intimidating. Plus he's a monk who goes out alone into the forest for long periods of time and doesn't talk to anyone cuz there's no one to talk to.

And so it ends here. Tae, to my knowledge, never meets Anji. If I'm wrong please tell me so I can fix it. I think I'm going to make it so that she remembers him later on from stories Sano or Yahiko have told her or something like that. Anji has never heard of her. I would also really appreciate it if someone could tell me that Anji's last name is Yukyuzan and not Yuukyuuzan. It's already a mouthful saying Yukyuzan-san, try saying Yuukyuuzan-san. I guess Watsuki just decided that Anji's first name was just too simple and decided to make things more interesting for his foreign fans by giving him a damn tongue-twister last name!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I keep forgetting to put this but they took off Tae and Anji's name off the list and other characters! The problem with doing that is that it's harder to find fics of the less popular characters and if the names aren't there it doesn't encourage people to write about them. So then we have a whole bunch of Kaoru and Kenshin fics featuring them in high school, each one of them doing practically the same thing as all the other fics before them. We need variety people! Variety and originality!

Dsclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

3

Chapter Three

3

"Hello? Daddy?" she asked holding with both hands the phone pressed against her ear while her eyes looked sideways.

"Tae!" Sekihara Koiji yelled into the phone so loud she had to pull it away from her ear.

"Where are you?" he demanded in the same accent as his daughter only much heavier.

"I'm in Aizu." she said after bringing the phone close to her ear again.

"Aizu?"

"Yes, Aizu. You see," she then explained everything that happened to her.

"I see," he said thoughtfully.

"Daddy, please don't make me come back just yet." she said seriously, not pleading or demanding, but in the way one states a fact.

"What?" he asked a little surprised.

"Let me stay here for a little while longer. I bought the tickets and everything's paid for except food which we can afford." she said still using the same tone of voice. There was silence on the other end for about a second or two.

"Sure Pumpkin. If this is what you want, then I consent."

Tae looked a little surprised then smiled a teary smile.

"Thank you Daddy."

"Just be careful Tae, and watch out for men. They're not to be trusted." he said warningly.

"But Daddy, you're one." she smiled with a big sweat drop.

"Exactly, so I know how they think." he said sounding incredibly paranoid. Tae just laughed, said good bye and hung up.

"Oh, Daddy, you're just too funny." she said walking towards her room.

_'No wonder I'm such a nut. Look at my parentage. Flirting with a monk. Apparently I want to burn in hell for all eternity. But talking to him was... refreshing. I'm glad I bought those tickets and left so suddenly. I never would have been able to get away otherwise. Something would have come up. Something always comes up.'_ Tae thought contentedly as she walked out of the hotels phone room.

_**To Be Continued...**_

The whole, 'burn in hell for all eternity' bit doesn't really count for monks. That's more of a western thing for when you flirt with the local priest(which isn't true as long as you're sorry about it before you die, but it's still not a nice thing to do! So don't do it!). I don't think Buddhist believe in hell anyways because they have re-encarnation. Hell would be all your bad kharma from your past life still with you in your present life making horrible things happen to you. I just had to stick that in there though. I just couldn't help myself. )P

Phone room. Now isn't that an interesting term. Well, if you've heard of these so called 'phone rooms' it's a complete coincidence because it's something I fabricated out of the need to have Tae having a conversation with her father. Phones were anything but common back then and I even suspect they were looked upon by some exactly (maybe even worse) the way Sano looks upon a camara. Why not a telegram you ask? Because it hadn't occured to me at the time and when it did I already had alot of the chapter already written down and it just wouldn't be the same. Reading is not the same thing as hearing. Though I must admit that if used correctly, the telegram could be quite a powerful way of getting laughs coughreviewscough. I'm still playing with the idea though. It is for now in storage for future use.

I couldn't find anything about Tae's family except that she had a twin sister called Sae who owns the Shirobeko in Kyoto. So I created her dad, Sekihara Koiji, the main reason she and her sister are who they are. You see, in his eyes no man is good enough for his little girls so he never tried getting them engaged and instead taught them how to manage a business (which was very rare back then, and that's putting it lightly) so they could take care of themselves and not depend on any man when he was long gone. He's based on my great aunt's father who was a minister. She told me that when her boyfriend came to ask her father for her hand in marriage he looked him straight in the eye and said, "No." without even thinking it. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. If it hadn't been for her mother who took control of the situation she probably wouldn't have gotten married at all.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I have just received one of the best compliments there is for me. It was written by Rachel saying that this was the most original idea she has seen while searching for a fanfic. For me that is a very big accomplishment. Thank you so much and thank you to everyone else who has reviewed!

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

4

Chapter Four

4

"Thank you for letting me use your phone room." Tae said to the clerk while thinking,_ 'Wow, this really is a western style inn.'_

"I'm here to check in." she said handing the clerk the tickets that she'd bought from Kumakura-san. The clerk looked at them then looked at her and handed them back saying, "I'm sorry, but these tickets are invalid."

"What? Are you sure, because-" she started but was cut off by the clerk.

"Yes."

"Oh, I see."

Seeing the look of hopelessness on Tae's face, the clerk asked if she had anywhere else she could go. When she answered no he then asked how much money she had. The look on her face told him she didn't have enough for an inn. He suggested she go to another inn that was across town.

::Across Town::

_'My, that was awfully nice of the clerk to tell me about another place to stay. Oh, this must be it.'_ thought Tae as she walked up to a dilapidated inn. She looked around and went over the directions given to her by the clerk.

_'Could I have taken a wrong turn? No, I made sure to follow his instructions to the letter. Oh well, might as well go in. No sense in staying out here.'_

She walked up to the entrance and pushed the shoji to the side and stuck her head in.

"Um, yoo-hoo! Is there anyone here?!" her voice actually made an echo.

_'That doesn't sound too good. You know there's something wrong with a building when it looks like this one and there's an echo. Maybe this trip really was a mistake...'_ Tae thought to herself and was about to leave when she heard another 'Yoo-hoo!'

"Huh?"

Just then something grabbed her hand and pulled her in.

"A-!" she started to scream but was cut off by a white pale cold hand on her mouth.

"Hello! And welcome to our Inn! I am Imonoyama Hitsuke!" said a short pale chubby man in an eager scary voice.

Tae was about to faint.

"Hitsuke-san you stupid man! Can't you see you're scaring her half to death!" yelled a pale woman with long black hair who literally seemed to have appeared from thin air. She hit him on the head hard causing him to let go of Tae and bowed down to her introducing herself.

"My name is Sakurazao Satsuki. Please forgive my colleagues enthusiasm. He can get a little carried away at times and he's **very sorry for scaring you.**" she finished the last part glaring at him. He coward a little in fear then suddenly bowed screaming, "I am incredibly sorry for scaring you! Please accept my humblest apologies!"

"Um, that's quite alright. I just saw this old-" she was about to say dilapidated but decided against it at the dirty look the woman gave her. "I mean beautiful old traditional Japanese building and just couldn't help myself and had to take a peek. And now that I've taken my peek I must take my leave. It was very nice meeting y'all." she said backing away slowly. At this response both the woman and the man got up quickly. The woman then wrapped an arm around Tae's shoulder and practically pushed her more into the building saying, "So what is your name pray tell?"

"Sekihara Tae." She answered nervously.

"Sekihara-san, you're not from around here are you?"

"Um, no-"

"And have you no place to stay?"

"Well, no-"

"Aha!" Sakurazao-san yelled in victory making Tae jump in surprise/fear.

"You hear that Hitsuke-san! Sekihara-san here has nowhere to stay!"

"I hear Satsuki-san! Why not ask her if she wishes to stay here?"

"My, what a fine idea! Why don't you stay here Sekihara-san? This is an Inn after all. That is the whole reason for which places like this exists. For wary-worn travelers such as yourself who have nowhere to stay!"

"Why thank you-"

"Then it is decided! Sekihara-san will stay here!" Sakurazao-san said in victory and all but dragged Tae to the room she would be residing in.

"But I have no way of payment!" she said anxiously.

"This will do!" said Hitsuke snatching the tickets she had bought from Kumakura-san and raising them above his head.

"Fine payment from a fine customer!" Sakurazao-san all but sang.

"This will be your room." Hitsuke said sliding open the shoji. Satsuki all but pushed her in. Tae almost tripped then turned around where she found them both bowing on the floor. They both looked up at the same time and said in perfect unison, "We hope you have a pleasant stay!" and slammed the shoji door shut. Tae then thought to herself not for the first time that maybe this trip was a bad idea.

_To Be Continued..._

Author's Note: I started writing this a long time ago but got writers block. So I looked at it today and got so many ideas I just had to write! Please R & R!


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